I've started a blog...

I realise that blogging convention has it that one’s first post really ought to be a self-referential reflection to the effect of ‘I’ve started a blog’, and why.

OK, then. I’ve started a blog.

Why? Mostly because I’m not too good at ‘doing myself’ in short sound-bites but, since I’m standing for Equity Council, feel I ought to give an idea of where I‘m coming from. But why should I want to give an idea of my self, rather than espousing a particular set of policies?

Well, this isn’t a parliamentary election, so it’s not a case of a party offering to get specific things done, and it would be futile and false for me to make such promises. What I can do is give an idea of where I’m coming from, what concerns me and what I care about. These aren’t always simple positions so much as complex discussions. But that is, I suppose, what I want to get on the agenda.

Much of Equity’s decision-making structure is based in an essentially adversarial system, like parliament. A specific proposition is advanced, and people line up and speak for or against it. Where there is a clear and tangible issue, it’s an effective way of getting to a clear decision that represents the majority view. But it doesn’t lend itself well to exploring areas that are more complex and need to be thought through thoroughly before a specific course of action can even be proposed.

Many age-old issues, such as pay and working conditions, have been debated widely, and the options are often clear. However, we are in a time of rapid change, where the very shape of the industry is shifting. Often this stems from new technologies, but the debate is not about the technology itself: it’s about how, for example, digital cameras and non-linear computer editing mean that smaller players can enter the film market, so the balance of power shifts away from the traditional industrial monoliths to smaller and more agile players.

Hence the blog. It’s a way of exploring topics that I believe are relevant, and need to be opened up for discussion, but are too complex or subtle to leap straight into a particular proposition. An example is that of low/no pay work, which seems quite clear-cut if we’re looking at employers who have substantial production budgets, but starts to get rather more murky once we start talking about performers getting together to create their own work, with an aim of profile-raising rather than immediate financial gain.

These are topics to which there are no simple answers. At this stage. But they do need to be put on the agenda and, above all, acknowledged if Equity is to appear relevant to those members who have first-hand experience of the industry as it’s currently shaping up.

Posted via email from Illusions and Reflections